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2004 annual report united states postal service | 11
Postal฀ reform฀ was฀ a฀ key฀ legislative฀ focus฀ with฀ the฀
introduction฀of฀bills฀in฀both฀the฀House฀and฀Senate.฀฀While฀House฀
bill฀H.R.฀4341,฀Postal฀Accountability฀and฀Enhancement฀Act,฀was฀
reported฀favorably฀to฀the฀full฀House,฀and฀the฀Senate’s฀similarly฀
named฀S.฀2468฀was฀placed฀on฀the฀legislative฀calendar,฀no฀final฀
action฀was฀taken฀before฀Congress’฀adjournment.
Despite฀some฀differences,฀both฀bills฀provided฀for฀a฀number฀
of฀ changes฀ to฀ reform฀ the฀ outdated฀ Postal฀ Reorganization฀
Act฀of฀1970.฀฀These฀include฀pricing฀flexibility฀and฀regulatory฀
oversight.฀ In฀ addition,฀ both฀ bills฀ would฀ have฀ corrected฀ the฀
financial฀ burdens฀ imposed฀ by฀ P.L.108-18,฀ the฀ Postal฀ Civil฀
Service฀ Retirement฀ System฀ Funding฀ Reform฀ Act฀ of฀ 2003,฀
which฀requires฀the฀Postal฀Service฀to฀fund฀an฀escrow฀account,฀
beginning฀in฀2006,฀for฀savings฀resulting฀from฀the฀Act.฀฀The฀Act฀
also฀requires฀the฀Postal฀Service฀to฀contribute฀to฀the฀funding฀
of฀retirement฀ benefits฀ earned฀by฀Postal฀Service฀employees฀
while฀serving฀in฀the฀military.฀฀This฀funding฀was฀previously฀the฀
responsibility฀of฀the฀Treasury.
Postmaster฀General฀John฀E.฀Potter฀and฀Board฀of฀Governors฀
Chairman฀ S.฀ David฀ Fineman฀ testified฀ several฀ times฀ before฀
the฀Senate฀Governmental฀Affairs฀Committee฀and฀the฀House฀
Government฀Reform฀Special฀Panel฀on฀the฀Postal฀Service฀on฀
issues฀including฀postal฀reform฀and฀recommendations฀made฀by฀
the฀President’s฀Commission฀on฀the฀Postal฀Service.
In฀November฀2004,฀Congress฀approved฀an฀omnibus฀appro-
priations฀bill฀for฀2005฀that฀provides฀the฀Postal฀Service฀with฀$29฀
million฀for฀revenue฀forgone฀debt฀repayment,฀$61.7฀million฀to฀
provide฀free฀mail฀for฀the฀blind฀and฀overseas฀voters,฀and฀$507฀
million฀for฀emergency฀preparedness฀to฀fund฀the฀acquisition฀and฀
deployment฀of฀biohazard฀detection฀systems.฀฀
H.R.฀ 2673,฀ Consolidated฀ Appropriations฀ Act,฀ 2004,฀
enacted฀as฀Public฀Law฀108-199,฀extended฀the฀sales฀period฀
for฀the฀Breast฀Cancer฀Research฀semipostal฀stamp,฀first฀issued฀
in฀1998,฀for฀an฀additional฀two฀years.฀฀The฀period฀was฀due฀to฀
expire฀at฀the฀end฀of฀calendar฀year฀2003.฀฀฀
Throughout฀the฀year,฀the฀Postal฀Service฀advised฀legisla-
tors฀and฀their฀staffs฀on฀a฀wide฀range฀of฀issues฀affecting฀the฀
nation’s฀ postal฀ system,฀ including฀aviation฀ security฀ and฀the฀
ongoing฀deployment฀of฀biohazard฀detection฀systems฀in฀major฀
mailprocessing฀facilities฀throughout฀the฀nation.฀
These฀issues฀are฀discussed฀in฀further฀detail฀in฀the฀financial฀
review฀section฀of฀this฀report.
Legislation and the
Postal Service
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